Method and system for sharing user configuration data between different computing sessions

ABSTRACT

A method includes receiving a request from a client device to establish a first computing session for a first resource hosted on a virtual machine (VM). The method includes generating a session transfer key for accessing a second resource provided by a second resource provider. The method includes issuing instructions, to the VM that hosts the first resource, for establishing a second computing session to host the second resource, wherein the instructions include a mapping of the session transfer key to a session identifier. The method includes providing the instructions to the client device to establish the second computing session for the second resource without input for the second resource from the user of the client device. The establishment of the second computing session being between the VM and the second resource provider and based on the mapping of the session transfer key to the session identifier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/404,007 filed on May 6,2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Cloud computing architectures enable ubiquitous, convenient, on-demandnetwork access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources thatcan be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effortor service provider interaction. Cloud computing models can use amanagement platform that allows organizations to deploy cloud-hosteddesktops and application software (“apps”) to end users.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts insimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essentialfeatures or combinations of the claimed subject matter, nor is itintended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In one aspect, a method comprises receiving, by a server, a request froma client device to establish a first computing session for a firstresource. The first computing session can host the first resource on atleast one virtual machine (VM). In embodiments, the first resource isassociated with a user of the client device and provided by a firstresource provider. The method also includes generating, by the server, asession transfer key for accessing a second resource provided by asecond resource provider. The second resource can be associated with theuser of the client device. The second resource provider can be differentthan the first resource provider. Further, the method includes issuing,by the server, instructions, to the at least one VM that hosts the firstresource, for establishing a second computing session to host the secondresource. The instructions can include including a mapping of thesession transfer key to a session identifier. Additionally, the methodincludes providing, by the server, the instructions to the client deviceto establish the second computing session for the second resourcewithout input for the second resource from the user of the clientdevice. Establishment of the second computing session being between theat least one VM and the second resource provider and can be based on themapping of the session transfer key to the session identifier.

In embodiments, the method can include generating the session transferkey includes determining, by the server, the second resource for theclient device. Determining the second resource for the client deviceincludes querying, by the server, an authentication server for resourcesthe user of the client device is authorized to access.

In some embodiments, generating the session transfer key includesobtaining, by the server, an authentication token from an authenticationserver, wherein the authentication token authenticates access of theuser of the client device to the second resource; retrieving, by theserver, configuration data from the second resource provider, whereinthe configuration data includes information for establishing the secondcomputing session; and encapsulating, by the server, the authenticationtoken and the configuration data in the session transfer key. Theconfiguration data can include information for interfacing with aresource provider associated with the second resource.

In other embodiments, the method can include generating, by the server,an independent computing architecture (ICA) file for transmitting theinstructions to the client device for establishing the second computingsession from the at least one VM, wherein the client device uses the ICAfile to establish the first computing session. The method can alsoinclude embedding, by the server, the session transfer key within theICA file such that the at least one VM is provided with the sessiontransfer key in response to the first computing session beingestablished. The ICA file can include an address and port of the atleast one VM. The session transfer key can authenticate access to thesecond resource by the user.

In another aspect, a server comprises a memory and one or moreprocessors coupled to the memory. The one or more processors areconfigured to receive a request from a client device to establish afirst computing session for a first resource, wherein the firstcomputing session hosts the first resource on at least one virtualmachine (VM), and the first resource is associated with a user of theclient device and provided by a first resource provider; generate asession transfer key for accessing a second resource provided by asecond resource provider, the second resource associated with the userof the client device, wherein the second resource provider is differentthan the first resource provider; issue instructions, to the at leastone VM that hosts the first resource, for establishing a secondcomputing session to host the second resource, the instructionsincluding a mapping of the session transfer key to a session identifier;and provide the instructions to the client device to establish thesecond computing session for the second resource without input from theuser of the client device for the second resource, the establishment ofthe second computing session being between the at least one VM and thesecond resource provider and based on the mapping of the sessiontransfer key to the session identifier.

In embodiments, the one or more processors can be further configured togenerate the session transfer key by determining a second resource forthe client device.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors can be furtherconfigured to determine the second resource by querying anauthentication server for resources the user of the client device isauthorized to access.

In other embodiments, the one or more processors can be furtherconfigured to generate the session transfer key by: obtaining anauthentication token from an authentication server, wherein theauthentication token authenticates access of the user of the clientdevice to the second resource; retrieving configuration data from thesecond resource provider, wherein the configuration data includesinformation for establishing the second computing session; andencapsulating the authentication token and the configuration data in thesession transfer key. The configuration data can include information forinterfacing with a resource provider associated with the second resource

In additional embodiments, the one or more processors can be furtherconfigured to generate an independent computing architecture (ICA) filefor transmitting the instructions to the client device for establishingthe second computing session from the at least one VM, wherein theclient device uses the ICA file to establish the first computingsession.

In further embodiments, the one or more processors can be furtherconfigured to embed the session transfer key within the ICA file suchthat the at least one VM is provided with the session transfer key inresponse to the first computing session being established. The ICA filecan include an address and port of the at least one VM. The sessiontransfer key can be configured to authenticate access to the secondresource by the user.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising computer-executable instructions, which when executed by oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive arequest from a client device to establish a first computing session fora first resource, wherein the first computing session hosts the firstresource on at least one virtual machine (VM), and the first resource isassociated with a user of the client device and provided by a firstresource provider; generate a session transfer key for accessing asecond resource provided by a second resource provider, the secondresource associated with the user of the client device, wherein thesecond resource provider is different than the first resource provider;issue instructions, to the at least one VM that hosts the firstresource, for establishing a second computing session to host the secondresource, the instructions including a mapping of the session transferkey to a session identifier; and provide the instructions to the clientdevice to establish the second computing session for the second resourcewithout input from the user of the client device for the secondresource, the establishment of the second computing session beingbetween the at least one VM and the second resource provider and basedon the mapping of the session transfer key to the session identifier.

In embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, causethe one or more processors to generate the session transfer key by:obtaining an authentication token from an authentication server, whereinthe authentication token authenticates access of the user of the clientdevice to the second resource; retrieving configuration data from thesecond resource provider, wherein the configuration data includesinformation for establishing the second computing session; andencapsulating the authentication token and the configuration data in thesession transfer key.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages will beapparent from the following more particular description of theembodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which likereference characters refer to the same parts throughout the differentviews. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead beingplaced upon illustrating the principles of the embodiments.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects of theconcepts described herein.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative virtualized (hypervisor) systemarchitecture that may be used in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects of the concepts described herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative cloud-based system architecture that maybe used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects of theconcepts described herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an illustrative computing device inaccordance with one or more illustrative aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative operating environment that may be used inaccordance with one or more illustrative aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein.

FIG. 7A depicts example communication flows in an illustrative operatingenvironment that may be used in accordance with one or more illustrativeaspects of the concepts described herein.

FIG. 7B depicts example communication flows within a virtual machine(VM) that may be used in accordance with one or more illustrativeaspects of the concepts described herein.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an illustrative method for sharingconfiguration information between computing sessions in accordance withone or more illustrative aspects of the concepts described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an illustrative method for generating asession transfer key in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsof the concepts described herein.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative process flow for establishing a secondcomputing session from a first computing session without user input inaccordance with one or more illustrative aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects of the concepts described herein may be practiced. Itis to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, andstructural and functional modifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the concepts described herein. Various aspects of theconcepts described herein may be implemented in ways not specificallydescribed herein (e.g. other embodiments and processes may be practicedor carried out in ways which differ from the illustrative embodimentsand processes described herein).

With respect to current techniques, a user of a client device canestablish a first computing session with a VM that hosts a softwareapplication (e.g., Microsoft Word). To access the VM hosting theapplication, the user establishes a first computing session with the VMby providing authentication credentials to a management server. Theauthentication credentials can include, e.g., a user name and password.Once the user establishes the first computing session, the user mayrequire a document file or other resource stored by a remote storageprovider.

To access the document file, the user establishes a second computingsession with the remote storage provider from the first computingsession. Because the remote storage provider does not have access to theauthentication credentials used by the user to establish the firstcomputing session, the remote storage provider requires input of theuser's authentication credentials. In conventional systems, users canonly establish the second computing session by manually entering theirauthentication credentials to access the remote storage provider. Thisis because the authentication credentials are not shared between the VMhosting the software application and the remote storage provider, andthe user has not previously established the second computing sessionwith the remote storage provider (i.e. the user has not previouslyestablished an authentication session with the storage provider).

As a general introduction to the subject matter described in more detailbelow, aspects of the concepts described herein are directed towardsestablishing a second computing session for a second resource from anestablished first computing session for a first resource withoutrequiring input from a user of a client device. For example, a servercan receive a request from a client device to establish the firstcomputing session for the first resource provided by a first resourceprovider and hosted by a VM. In response to receiving the request, theserver can establish a second computing session for a second resource.This may be accomplished, for example, by the server generating asession transfer key for accessing the second resource which may beresident on, accessible through or otherwise provided by a resourceprovider not associated with the first computing session. The server canfurther issue instructions to the VM for establishing a second computingsession to host the second resource. The server can also provide theinstructions to the client device to establish the second computingsession. Significantly, the server establishes the second computingsession without further input from the user of the client device (i.e.the server autonomously establishes the second computing session).

Advantageously, authentication for the second computing session isachieved without requiring manual input from the user. That is, withoutthe session transfer key, the second resource provider(s) would requirethe user to manually input the user's authentication information andthereby delaying access to data of the second resource or otherwisediminishing user experience of the system due to duplicative (ormultiple) authentication requests. Specifically, the second computingsession can be established from the first computing session by utilizingthe session transfer key such that resources can be accessed withouthaving to re-authenticate a user.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “connected,” “coupled,”and similar terms, is meant to include both direct and indirectconnecting and coupling.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (aka, remote desktop), virtualized, and/or cloud-basedenvironments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a systemarchitecture and data processing device that may be used to implementone or more illustrative aspects of the concepts described herein in astandalone and/or networked environment. Various network node devices103, 105, 107, and 109 may be interconnected via a wide area network(WAN) 101, such as the Internet. Other networks may also oralternatively be used, including private intranets, corporate networks,local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), wirelessnetworks, personal networks (PAN), and the like. Network 101 is forillustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer or additionalcomputer networks. A local area network 133 may have one or more of anyknown LAN topologies and may use one or more of a variety of differentprotocols, such as Ethernet. Devices 103, 105, 107, and 109 and otherdevices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of the networks viatwisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radio waves, or othercommunication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across allphysical networks.

The components and devices which make up the system of FIG. 1 mayinclude data server 103, web server 105, and client computers 107, 109.Data server 103 provides overall access, control and administration ofdatabases and control software for performing one or more illustrativeaspects of the concepts described herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the local area network 133,the wide area network 101 (e.g., the Internet), via direct or indirectconnection, or via some other network. Users may interact with the dataserver 103 using remote computers 107, 109, e.g., using a web browser toconnect to the data server 103 via one or more externally exposed websites hosted by web server 105. Client computers 107, 109 may be used inconcert with data server 103 to access data stored therein or may beused for other purposes. For example, from client device 107 a user mayaccess web server 105 using an Internet browser, as is known in the art,or by executing a software application that communicates with web server105 and/or data server 103 over a computer network (such as theInternet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used in the system architecture anddata processing device of FIG. 1 , and those of skill in the art willappreciate that the specific network architecture and data processingdevices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionality that theyprovide, as further described herein. For example, services provided byweb server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on a single server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the data server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include random access memory (RAM) 113, read onlymemory (ROM) 115, network interface 117, input/output interfaces 119(e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory 121.Input/output (I/O) interfaces 119 may include a variety of interfaceunits and drives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing dataor files. Memory 121 may store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data server 103, control logic 125for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein, and other application software 127 providingsecondary, support, and/or other functionality which may or might not beused in conjunction with aspects of the concepts described herein. Thecontrol logic 125 may also be referred to herein as the data serversoftware. Functionality of the data server software may refer tooperations or decisions made automatically based on rules coded into thecontrol logic, made manually by a user providing input into the system,and/or a combination of automatic processing based on user input (e.g.,queries, data updates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects of the concepts described herein. Memory 121 may include, forexample, a first database 129 and a second database 131. In someembodiments, the first database may include the second database (e.g.,as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, the information can bestored in a single database, or separated into different logical,virtual, or physical databases, depending on system design. Devices 105,107, and 109 may have similar or different architecture as describedwith respect to data server 103. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that the functionality of data server 103 (or device 105,107, or 109) as described herein may be spread across multiple dataprocessing devices, for example, to distribute processing load acrossmultiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographiclocation, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc.

One or more aspects of the concepts described here may be embodied ascomputer-usable or readable data and/or as computer-executableinstructions, such as in one or more program modules, executed by one ormore computers or other devices as described herein. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or otherdevice. The modules may be written in a source code programming languagethat is subsequently compiled for execution or may be written in ascripting language such as (but not limited to) Hypertext MarkupLanguage (HTML) or Extensible Markup Language (XML). The computerexecutable instructions may be stored on a computer readable storagemedium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitable computerreadable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs,optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage)media representing data or events as described herein may be transferredbetween a source node and a destination node (e.g., the source node canbe a storage or processing node having information stored therein whichinformation can be transferred to another node referred to as a“destination node”). The media can be transferred in the form ofelectromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conducting media such asmetal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g.,air and/or space). Various aspects of the concepts described herein maybe embodied as a method, a data processing system, or a computer programproduct. Therefore, various functionalities may be embodied in whole orin part in software, firmware, and/or hardware or hardware equivalentssuch as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), andthe like. Particular data structures may be used to more effectivelyimplement one or more aspects of the concepts described herein, and suchdata structures are contemplated within the scope of computer executableinstructions and computer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2 , one or more aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein may be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG.2 depicts an example system architecture including a computing device201 in an illustrative computing environment 200 that may be usedaccording to one or more illustrative aspects of the concepts describedherein. Computing device 201 may be used as a server 206 a in asingle-server or multi-server desktop virtualization system (e.g., aremote access or cloud system) configured to provide VMs for clientaccess devices. The computing device 201 may have a processor 203 forcontrolling overall operation of the server and its associatedcomponents, including RAM 205, ROM 207, input/output (I/O) module 209,and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of computing device 201 may provide input, and may also include oneor more of a speaker for providing audio output and one or more of avideo display device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/orgraphical output. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or otherstorage to provide instructions to processor 203 for configuringcomputing device 201 into a special purpose computing device in order toperform various functions as described herein. For example, memory 215may store software used by the computing device 201, such as anoperating system 217, application programs 219, and an associateddatabase 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices). The terminals 240 may be personalcomputers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers thatinclude many or all the elements described above with respect to thedata server 103 or computing device 201. The network connectionsdepicted in FIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a widearea network (WAN) 229 but may also include other networks. When used ina LAN networking environment, computing device 201 may be connected tothe LAN 225 through an adapter or network interface 223. When used in aWAN networking environment, computing device 201 may include a modem orother wide area network interface 227 for establishing communicationsover the WAN 229, such as to computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet).It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other means of establishing a communication linkbetween the computers may be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals240 may also be mobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones,personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebooks, etc.) including variousother components, such as a battery, speaker, and antennas (not shown).

Aspects of the concepts described herein may also be operational withnumerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of other computing systems,environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use withaspects of the concepts described herein include, but are not limitedto, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes,programmable consumer electronics, network personal computers (PCs),minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 , one or more terminals 240 may be in communicationwith one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referred to herein as“server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computing environment 200 mayinclude a network appliance installed between the server(s) 206 andterminals 240. The network appliance may manage client/serverconnections, and in some cases can load balance client connectionsamongst a plurality of back-end servers 206.

The terminals 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as a singlecomputing device or a single group of client computing devices, whileserver(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or a group ofservers 206. In one embodiment, a single terminal 240 communicates withmore than one server 206, while in another embodiment a single server206 communicates with more than one terminal 240. In yet anotherembodiment, a single terminal 240 communicates with a single server 206.

A terminal 240 can, in some embodiments, be referred to as any one ofthe following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s); clientcomputer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referred to as anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the terminal 240 may be a VM. The VM may be any VM,while in some embodiments the VM may be any VM managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, the VMmay be managed by a hypervisor, while in other aspects the VM may bemanaged by a hypervisor executing on a server 206 or a hypervisorexecuting on a terminal 240.

Some embodiments include a terminal 240 that displays application outputgenerated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 or otherremotely located machine. In these embodiments, the terminal 240 mayexecute a VM receiver program or application to display the output in anapplication window, a browser, or other output window. In one example,the application is a desktop, while in other examples the application isan application that generates or presents a desktop. A desktop mayinclude a graphical shell providing a user interface for an instance ofan operating system in which local and/or remote applications can beintegrated. Applications, as used herein, are programs that executeafter an instance of an operating system (and, optionally, also thedesktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; or theRemote Desktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n logically grouped together into a server farm 206, for example,in a cloud computing environment. The server farm 206 may includeservers 206 a-206 n that are geographically dispersed while logicallygrouped together, or servers 206 a-206 n that are located proximate toeach other while logically grouped together. Geographically dispersedservers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206 can, in some embodiments,communicate using a WAN, MAN, or LAN, where different geographic regionscan be characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments, the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm 206 may include servers that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, etc.) In other embodiments,server farm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers thatexecute a first type of operating system platform, and a second group ofone or more servers that execute a second type of operating systemplatform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SecureSockets Layer (SSL) VPN server, a firewall, a web server, an applicationserver, a master application server, a server executing an activedirectory, or a server executing an application acceleration programthat provides firewall functionality, application functionality, or loadbalancing functionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 206 a that receives requestsfrom a terminal 240, forwards the request to a second server 206 b (notshown), and responds to the request generated by the terminal 240 with aresponse from the second server 206 b (not shown). First server 206 amay acquire an enumeration of applications available to the terminal 240as well as address information associated with an application server 206hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. First server 206 a can present a response to the client'srequest using a web interface and communicate directly with the terminal240 to provide the terminal 240 with access to an identifiedapplication. One or more terminals 240 and/or one or more servers 206may transmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 3 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative applicationvirtualization system. As shown, the application virtualization systemmay be single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, includingat least one virtualization server 301 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more terminals 240 (FIG.2 ). As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environment orspace in which one or more applications may be hosted and/or executed. Adesktop may include a graphical shell providing a user interface for aninstance of an operating system in which local and/or remoteapplications can be integrated. Applications may include programs thatexecute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally, alsothe desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating system maybe physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual (e.g.,many instances of an operating system running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

A computer device 301 may be configured as a virtualization server in avirtualization environment, for example, a single-server, multi-server,or cloud computing environment. Virtualization server 301 illustrated inFIG. 3 can be deployed as and/or implemented by one or more embodimentsof the server 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 or by other known computingdevices. Included in virtualization server 301 is a hardware layer 310that can include one or more physical disks 304, one or more physicaldevices 306, one or more physical processors 308, and one or morephysical memories 316. In some embodiments, firmware 312 can be storedwithin a memory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executedby one or more of the physical processors 308. Virtualization server 301may further include an operating system 314 that may be stored in amemory element in the physical memory 316 and executed by one or more ofthe physical processors 308. Still further, a hypervisor 302 may bestored in a memory element in the physical memory 316 and can beexecuted by one or more of the physical processors 308.

Executing on one or more of the physical processors 308 may be one ormore VMs 332A-C (generally 332). Each VM 332 may have a virtual disk326A-C and a virtual processor 328A-C. In some embodiments, a first VM332A may execute, using a virtual processor 328A, a control program 320that includes a tools stack 324. Control program 320 may be referred toas a control VM, Dom0, Domain 0, or other VM used for systemadministration and/or control. In some embodiments, one or more VMs332B-C can execute, using a virtual processor 328B-C, a guest operatingsystem 330A-B.

Physical devices 306 may include, for example, a network interface card,a video card, a keyboard, a mouse, an input device, a monitor, a displaydevice, speakers, an optical drive, a storage device, a universal serialbus connection, a printer, a scanner, a network element (e.g., router,firewall, network address translator, load balancer, virtual privatenetwork (VPN) gateway, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)router, etc.), or any device connected to or communicating withvirtualization server 301. Physical memory 316 in the hardware layer 310may include any type of memory. Physical memory 316 may store data, andin some embodiments may store one or more programs, or set of executableinstructions. FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where firmware 312 isstored within the physical memory 316 of virtualization server 301.Programs or executable instructions stored in the physical memory 316can be executed by the one or more processors 308 of virtualizationserver 301.

In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 may be a program executed byprocessors 308 on virtualization server 301 to create and manage anynumber of VMs 332. Hypervisor 302 may be referred to as a VM monitor, orplatform virtualization software. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302can be any combination of executable instructions and hardware thatmonitors VMs executing on a computing machine. Hypervisor 302 may beType 2 hypervisor, where the hypervisor executes within an operatingsystem 314 executing on the virtualization server 301. VMs may executeat a level above the hypervisor. In some embodiments, the Type 2hypervisor may execute within the context of a user's operating systemsuch that the Type 2 hypervisor interacts with the user's operatingsystem. In other embodiments, one or more virtualization servers 301 ina virtualization environment may instead include a Type 1 hypervisor(not shown). A Type 1 hypervisor may execute on the virtualizationserver 301 by directly accessing the hardware and resources within thehardware layer 310. That is, while a Type 2 hypervisor 302 accessessystem resources through a host operating system 314, as shown, a Type 1hypervisor may directly access all system resources without the hostoperating system 314. A Type 1 hypervisor may execute directly on one ormore physical processors 308 of virtualization server 301 and mayinclude program data stored in the physical memory 316.

Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, can provide virtual resources tooperating systems 330 or control programs 320 executing on VMs 332 inany manner that simulates the operating systems 330 or control programs320 having direct access to system resources. System resources caninclude, but are not limited to, physical devices 306, physical disks304, physical processors 308, physical memory 316, and any othercomponent included in virtualization server 301 hardware layer 310.Hypervisor 302 may be used to emulate virtual hardware, partitionphysical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and/or execute VMs thatprovide access to computing environments. In still other embodiments,hypervisor 302 may control processor scheduling and memory partitioningfor a VM 332 executing on virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, virtualization server 301 may execute a hypervisor 302 thatcreates a VM platform on which guest operating systems may execute. Inthese embodiments, the virtualization server 301 may be referred to as ahost server. An example of such a virtualization server is the CitrixHypervisor provided by Citrix Systems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hypervisor 302 may create one or more VMs 332B-C (generally 332) inwhich guest operating systems 330 execute. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 may load a VM image to create a VM 332. In otherembodiments, the hypervisor 302 may execute a guest operating system 330within VM 332. In still other embodiments, VM 332 may execute guestoperating system 330.

In addition to creating VMs 332, hypervisor 302 may control theexecution of at least one VM 332. In other embodiments, hypervisor 302may present at least one VM 332 with an abstraction of at least onehardware resource provided by the virtualization server 301 (e.g., anyhardware resource available within the hardware layer 310). In otherembodiments, hypervisor 302 may control the way VMs 332 access physicalprocessors 308 available in virtualization server 301. Controllingaccess to physical processors 308 may include determining whether a VM332 should have access to a processor 308, and how physical processorcapabilities are presented to the VM 332.

As shown in FIG. 3 , virtualization server 301 may host or execute oneor more VMs 332. A VM 332 is a set of executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor 308, may imitate the operation of a physicalcomputer such that the VM 332 can execute programs and processes muchlike a physical computing device. While FIG. 3 illustrates an embodimentwhere a virtualization server 301 hosts three VMs 332, in otherembodiments virtualization server 301 can host any number of VMs 332.Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, may provide each VM 332 with aunique virtual view of the physical hardware, memory, processor, andother system resources available to that VM 332. In some embodiments,the unique virtual view can be based on one or more of VM permissions,application of a policy engine to one or more VM identifiers, a useraccessing a VM, the applications executing on a VM, networks accessed bya VM, or any other desired criteria. For instance, hypervisor 302 maycreate one or more unsecure VMs 332 and one or more secure VMs 332.Unsecure VMs 332 may be prevented from accessing resources, hardware,memory locations, and programs that secure VMs 332 may be permitted toaccess. In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 may provide each VM 332with a substantially similar virtual view of the physical hardware,memory, processor, and other system resources available to the VMs 332.

Each VM 332 may include a virtual disk 326A-C (generally 326) and avirtual processor 328A-C (generally 328.) The virtual disk 326, in someembodiments, is a virtualized view of one or more physical disks 304 ofthe virtualization server 301, or a portion of one or more physicaldisks 304 of the virtualization server 301. The virtualized view of thephysical disks 304 can be generated, provided, and managed by thehypervisor 302. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 provides each VM 332with a unique view of the physical disks 304. Thus, in theseembodiments, the particular virtual disk 326 included in each VM 332 canbe unique when compared with the other virtual disks 326.

A virtual processor 328 can be a virtualized view of one or morephysical processors 308 of the virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, the virtualized view of the physical processors 308 can begenerated, provided, and managed by hypervisor 302. In some embodiments,virtual processor 328 has substantially all the same characteristics ofat least one physical processor 308. In other embodiments, virtualprocessor 328 provides a modified view of physical processors 308 suchthat at least some of the characteristics of the virtual processor 328are different than the characteristics of the corresponding physicalprocessor 308.

With further reference to FIG. 4 , some aspects of the conceptsdescribed herein may be implemented in a cloud-based environment. FIG. 4illustrates an example of a cloud computing environment (or cloudsystem) 400. As seen in FIG. 4 , client computers 411-414 maycommunicate with a cloud management server 410 to access the computingresources (e.g., host servers 403 a-403 b (generally referred to hereinas “host servers 403”), storage resources 404 a-404 b (generallyreferred to herein as “storage resources 404”), and network resources405 a-405 b (generally referred to herein as “network resources 405”))of the cloud system.

Management server 410 may be implemented on one or more physicalservers. The management server 410 may include, for example, a cloudcomputing platform or solution, such as APACHE CLOUDSTACK by ApacheSoftware Foundation of Wakefield, Mass., among others. Management server410 may manage various computing resources, including cloud hardware andsoftware resources, for example, host servers 403, storage resources404, and network resources 405. The cloud hardware and softwareresources may include private and/or public components. For example, acloud environment may be configured as a private cloud environment to beused by one or more customers or client computers 411-414 and/or over aprivate network. In other embodiments, public cloud environments orhybrid public-private cloud environments may be used by other customersover an open or hybrid networks.

Management server 410 may be configured to provide user interfacesthrough which cloud operators and cloud customers may interact with thecloud system 400. For example, the management server 410 may provide aset of application programming interfaces (APIs) and/or one or morecloud operator console applications (e.g., web-based or standaloneapplications) with user interfaces to allow cloud operators to managethe cloud resources, configure the virtualization layer, manage customeraccounts, and perform other cloud administration tasks. The managementserver 410 also may include a set of APIs and/or one or more customerconsole applications with user interfaces configured to receive cloudcomputing requests from end users via client computers 411-414, forexample, requests to create, modify, or destroy VMs within the cloudenvironment. Client computers 411-414 may connect to management server410 via the Internet or some other communication network and may requestaccess to one or more of the computing resources managed by managementserver 410. In response to client requests, the management server 410may include a resource manager configured to select and provisionphysical resources in the hardware layer of the cloud system based onthe client requests. For example, the management server 410 andadditional components of the cloud system may be configured toprovision, create, and manage VMs and their operating environments(e.g., hypervisors, storage resources, services offered by the networkelements, etc.) for customers at client computers 411-414, over anetwork (e.g., the Internet), providing customers with computationalresources, data storage services, networking capabilities, and computerplatform and application support. Cloud systems also may be configuredto provide various specific services, including security systems,development environments, user interfaces, and the like.

Certain client computers 411-414 may be related, for example, differentclient computers creating VMs on behalf of the same end user, ordifferent users affiliated with the same company or organization. Inother examples, certain client computers 411-414 may be unrelated, suchas users affiliated with different companies or organizations. Forunrelated clients, information on the VMs or storage of any one user maybe hidden from other users.

Referring now to the physical hardware layer of a cloud computingenvironment, availability zones 401-402 (or zones) may refer to acollocated set of physical computing resources. Zones may begeographically separated from other zones in the overall cloud computingresources. For example, zone 401 may be a first cloud datacenter locatedin California and zone 402 may be a second cloud datacenter located inFlorida. Management server 410 may be located at one of the availabilityzones, or at a separate location. Each zone may include an internalnetwork that interfaces with devices that are outside of the zone, suchas the management server 410, through a gateway. End users of the cloudenvironment (e.g., client computers 411-414) might or might not be awareof the distinctions between zones. For example, an end user may requestthe creation of a VM having a specified amount of memory, processingpower, and network capabilities. The management server 410 may respondto the user's request and may allocate resources to create the VMwithout the user knowing whether the VM was created using resources fromzone 401 or zone 402. In other examples, the cloud system may allow endusers to request that VMs (or other cloud resources) are allocated in aspecific zone or on specific resources 403-405 within a zone.

In this example, each zone 401-402 may include an arrangement of variousphysical hardware components (or computing resources) 403-405, forexample, physical hosting resources (or processing resources), physicalnetwork resources, physical storage resources, switches, and additionalhardware resources that may be used to provide cloud computing servicesto customers. The physical hosting resources in a cloud zone 401-402 mayinclude one or more host servers 403, such as the virtualization servers301 (FIG. 3 ), which may be configured to create and host VM instances.The physical network resources in a cloud zone 401 or 402 may includeone or more network resources 405 (e.g., network service providers)comprising hardware and/or software configured to provide a networkservice to cloud customers, such as firewalls, network addresstranslators, load balancers, virtual private network (VPN) gateways,Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) routers, and the like. Thestorage resources in the cloud zone 401-402 may include storage disks(e.g., solid state drives (SSDs), magnetic hard disks, etc.) and otherstorage devices.

The example cloud computing environment 400 shown in FIG. 4 also mayinclude a virtualization layer (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-3 ) withadditional hardware and/or software resources configured to create andmanage VMs and provide other services to customers using the physicalresources in the cloud environment. The virtualization layer may includehypervisors, as described above in connection with FIG. 3 , along withother components to provide network virtualizations, storagevirtualizations, etc. The virtualization layer may be as a separatelayer from the physical resource layer or may share some or all the samehardware and/or software resources with the physical resource layer. Forexample, the virtualization layer may include a hypervisor installed ineach of the host servers 403 with the physical computing resources.Known cloud systems may alternatively be used, e.g., WINDOWS AZURE(Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), AMAZON EC2 (Amazon.com Inc.of Seattle, Wash.), IBM BLUE CLOUD (IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.), orothers.

As shown in FIG. 5 , computer 501 may include one or more processors503, volatile memory 522 (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory 528 (e.g., oneor more hard disk drives (HDDs) or other magnetic or optical storagemedia, one or more solid state drives (SSDs) such as a flash drive orother solid state storage media, one or more hybrid magnetic and solidstate drives, and/or one or more virtual storage volumes, such as acloud storage, or a combination of such physical storage volumes andvirtual storage volumes or arrays thereof), user interface (UI) 523, oneor more communications interfaces 518, and communication bus 550. Userinterface 523 may include graphical user interface (GUI) 524 (e.g., atouchscreen, a display, etc.) and one or more input/output (I/O) devices526 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.). Non-volatile memory 528 storesoperating system 515, one or more applications 516, and data 517 suchthat, for example, computer instructions of operating system 515 and/orapplications 516 are executed by processor(s) 503 out of volatile memory522. Data may be entered using an input device of GUI 524 or receivedfrom I/O device(s) 526. Various elements of computer 501 may communicatevia communication bus 550. Computer 501 as shown in FIG. 5 is shownmerely as an example of components 105, 107, and 109 of FIG. 1 ,terminals 240 of FIG. 2 , and/or client computers 411-414 of FIG. 4 . Askilled artisan understands that components 105, 107, and 109, terminals240, and/or client computers 411-414 may be implemented by any computingor processing environment and with any type of machine or set ofmachines that may have suitable hardware and/or software capable ofoperating as described herein.

Processor(s) 503 may be implemented by one or more programmableprocessors executing one or more computer programs to perform thefunctions of the system. As used herein, the term “processor” describesan electronic circuit that performs a function, an operation, or asequence of operations. The function, operation, or sequence ofoperations may be hard coded into the electronic circuit or soft codedby way of instructions held in a memory device. A “processor” mayperform the function, operation, or sequence of operations using digitalvalues or using analog signals. In some embodiments, the “processor” canbe embodied in one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), microprocessors, digital signal processors, microcontrollers,field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays(PLAs), multi-core processors, or general-purpose computers withassociated memory. The “processor” may be analog, digital ormixed-signal. In some embodiments, the “processor” may be one or morephysical processors or one or more “virtual” (e.g., remotely located)processors.

Communications interfaces 518 may include one or more interfaces toenable computer 501 to access a computer network such as a LAN, a WAN,or the Internet through a variety of wired and/or wireless or cellularconnections.

In described embodiments, a first computing device 501 may execute anapplication on behalf of a user of a client computing device (e.g., aclient 102), may execute a VM, which provides an execution sessionwithin which applications execute on behalf of a user or a clientcomputing device (e.g., any of the client computers 411-414 of FIG. 4 ),such as a hosted desktop session, may execute a terminal servicessession to provide a hosted desktop environment, or may provide accessto a computing environment including one or more of: one or moreapplications, one or more desktop applications, and one or more desktopsessions in which one or more applications may execute.

Establishing Computing Sessions from with Virtual Machine (VM) ComputingSessions

As stated herein, a VM is a computer software application, which whenexecuted on a processor (e.g., a physical server) emulates thefunctionality of a physical computer. Their implementations can includespecialized hardware and/or software. In one aspect, a VM can providethe functionality needed to execute entire operating systems (e.g., hosta virtual desktop computer). In other aspects, a VM can execute computerprograms in a platform-independent environment.

With respect to current techniques, a user of a client device canestablish a first computing session with a VM that hosts a softwareapplication (e.g., Microsoft Word). To access the VM hosting theapplication, the user establishes a first computing session with the VMby providing authentication credentials to a management server. Theauthentication credentials can include, e.g., a user name and password.Once the user establishes the first computing session, the user mayrequire a document file or other resource stored by a remote storageprovider.

To access the document file, the user establishes a second computingsession with the remote storage provider from the first computingsession. Because the remote storage provider does not have access to theauthentication credentials used by the user to establish the firstcomputing session, the remote storage provider requires input of theuser's authentication credentials. In conventional systems, users canonly establish the second computing session by manually entering theirauthentication credentials to access the remote storage provider. Forexample, the remote storage provider does not know that the user hasbeen authenticated because the user has not previously established anauthenticated session with the remote storage provider.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards establishinga second computing session for a second resource from an establishedfirst computing session for a first resource without requiring inputfrom a user of a client device (i.e., the second computing session isautomatically established) as discussed in greater detail herein.

Advantageously, authentication for the second computing session isachieved without requiring manual input from the user. That is, withoutthe session transfer key, the second resource provider(s) would requirethe user to manually input the user's authentication information andthereby delaying access to data of the second resource or otherwisediminishing user experience of the system due to duplicative (ormultiple) authentication requests. Specifically, the second computingsession can be established from the first computing session by utilizingthe session transfer key such that resources can be accessed withouthaving to re-authenticate a user.

Regarding FIG. 6 , a computing environment 600 includes a client device605 communicatively coupled to servers 604, 615, 618 via network 610. Inan embodiment, the client device 605 can establish a computing sessionwith a VM 628 (e.g., such as a VM 332 of FIG. 3 ) executed by avirtualization server 603 (e.g., such as virtualization server 301 ofFIG. 3 ). The server 615 (also referred to herein as a resource accessmanager) provides an interface for a user of the client device 605 toaccess one or more resources (e.g., first resource(s) 625). Resourcesinclude but are not limited to software applications (“apps”), virtualdesktops, documents, files, networks, servers, storage, and servicessuch as software as a service (SaaS), to provide a few examples. Thecomputing environment 600 can be a cloud computing environment (e.g.,such as cloud system 400 of FIG. 4 ) and client device 605 can beconfigured to operate substantially similar to terminals 240 of FIG. 2or client computers 411-414 of FIG. 4 . The network 610 can besubstantially similar to networks 101, 230 of FIGS. 1-2 , respectively.

In embodiments, the resource access manager 615 can receive a requestfor a first resource 625 from a client device 605. The request caninclude a user's authentication credentials (e.g., user name andpassword) and a resource identifier of the first resource 625. In anembodiment, the resource identifier can be a string of uniquealphanumeric characters, or any other unique code, that can identify aspecific resource. For example, the alphanumeric string “A001” canidentify an application, e.g., Microsoft Word stored by a resourceprovider (e.g., first resource provider 620). The resource accessmanager 615 can authenticate the user's access to the first resource bysending the authentication credentials and the resource identifier to anauthentication server 618. The authentication server 618 can verify theuser's authentication credentials and perform a look-up of, e.g., alook-up table, database or other structure that identifies one or moreresources each user is authorized to access. For example, theauthentication server 618 can determine if the resource identifier ofthe first resource 625 is listed in the look-up table of the one or moreresources the user is authorized to access. In response to finding theresource identifier of the requested resource in the look-up table, theauthentication server 618 can provide the resource access manager 615with an authentication token that enables the user to access the firstresource 625 as discussed in greater detail herein.

In some examples, an administrator, e.g., an IT manager of a company,can register users with the authentication server 618 and enable eachuser's access to the one or more resources. For example, with respect toeach user, the administrator can insert resource identifiers in thelook-up table of the resources that each user is authorized to access.

The resource access manager 615 can provide the virtualization server603 with the authentication token and the resource identifier. Using theresource identifier, the virtualization server 603 can provision (e.g.,allocate hardware and/or software computing resources needed to executethe first resource) the VM 628 to host the first resource 625. Inembodiments, the virtualization server 603 can include a hypervisor(e.g., the hypervisor 302 of FIG. 3 ) that allocates the hardwarecomputing resources included in a hardware layer (e.g., hardware layer310 of FIG. 3 ) of the virtualization server 603 needed to execute thefirst resource 625.

The VM 628 can provide the first resource provider 620 with theauthentication token to access the first resource 625. In embodiments,the first resource provider 620 is configured to manage access to thefirst resource 625. For example, a company may only have limitedlicenses available for a particular app. Accordingly, if a user, who isauthorized to access the app, has requested access after all thelicenses for the app are being used by other users, the first resourceprovider 620 notifies the VM 628 and prevents the user from accessingthe app until a license has been released.

In response to receiving the client-device request for the firstresource 625, the resource access manager 615 receives or otherwisedetermines information related to or identifying one or more possiblesecond resources 626 to which the user may require access. That is,based upon the client-device request for the first resource, theresource access manager 615 receives (directly or indirectly), derivesor otherwise determines information identifying one or more possiblesecond resources 626 to which the user may require access.

In one example, the client-device request can include information(explicitly or implicitly) identifying the second resource 626. Inanother example, in response to receiving a client-device request, theresource access manager 615 issues a request to the authenticationserver 618 to identify all resources the user is authorized to access.The authentication server 618 provides the resource access manager 615with a list identifying the resources.

In yet another example, the resource access manager 615 determines thatthe user may require access to one or more of the resources on the listbased upon the first requested resource. The resource access manager 615can include a table that identifies relationships between resources(e.g., Microsoft Word may require access to a remote storage). Based onthe table, the resource access manager 615 determines the secondresources 626 to which the user may require access. In still anotherexample, the resource access manager 615 can assume that user mayrequire access to any or all the resources on the list.

In response to determining the second resource(s) 626 to which the usermay require access, the resource access manager 615 obtains anauthentication token from the authentication server 618 for thedetermined second resource(s) (i.e. token-based authentication is used).In an example embodiment, an authentication token may be provided foreach resource It should be noted that in some embodiments, each resourcemay need its own token, while in other embodiments, this may not betrue. For example, a first authentication token may be provided for afirst resource and a second authentication token may be provided for asecond resource. In some such embodiments, resources provided by thesame resource provider may be provided authentication tokens of the sametoken type. For example, assuming that the first and second resourcesare provided by the same resource provider the first authenticationtoken and the second authentication token may be the same type ofauthentication token (i.e. resources coming from the same provider mayutilize the same type of token).

The resource access manager 615 provides the authentication token tosecond resource provider(s) 604 configured to manage access to thedetermined second resource(s) 626. In embodiments, the resource accessmanager 615 also provides the second resource provider(s) 604 with asession identifier corresponding to the computing session with the VM628 configured to host the first resource. In embodiments, the sessionidentifier is an n-bit number that identifies a specific computingsession (e.g., ID 1 and ID 2 identify two different computing sessions).In response, the second resource provider(s) 604 provide the resourceaccess manager 615 with second resource token(s).

Using the authentication token for the first resource 625 and the secondresource token(s), the resource access manager 615 generates a sessiontransfer key using a technique such as the one described in FIG. 9 . Thesession transfer key combines the tokens to enable the user to accessthe first and second resources 625, 626 from the computing session withthe VM 628.

In embodiments, the second resource provider(s) 604 are remote from thefirst resource provider(s) 620. In embodiments, the second computingsession can be a web-session or a windows session. In order to establishthe second computing session, the second resource provider(s) 604 needto authenticate the user that is accessing the VM 628. Accordingly, theVM 628 provides the session transfer key to the second resourceprovider(s) 604 to authenticate the user. In this way, authenticationfor the second computing session is achieved without requiring manualinput from the user. That is, without the session transfer key, thesecond resource provider(s) 604 would require the user to manually inputthe user's authentication information and thereby delaying access todata of the second resource or otherwise diminishing user experience ofthe system due to duplicative (or multiple) authentication requests.That is, the session transfer key the second computing session canutilize the session transfer such that resources can be accessed withouthaving to re-authenticate a user.

Regarding FIG. 7A, a computing environment 700 (e.g., such as computingenvironments 200, 400, 600 of FIGS. 2, 4 , & 6, respectively) includes aclient device 705, which can be substantially similar to the clientdevice 605 of FIG. 6 . The client device 705 includes a remote accessclient 706 that includes one or more protocols that enable the clientdevice 705 to establish a computing session with a VM 735 that executesone or more resources. In embodiments, the one or more resources arehosted by a remote resource server 725. Accordingly, the one or moreprotocols of the remote access client 706 are configured to passinformation (e.g., user keyboard and/or mouse inputs, screenshotupdates, and graphical data for a high definition user experience)between the client device 705 and the remote resources server 725. Theremote access client 706 can further include a UI (not shown) thatenables a user of the client device 705 to issue a request for the oneor more resources. For example, the UI can present a user with graphicalrepresentations of the one or more resources that a user can selectusing a touch screen or any other input device (e.g., mouse or keyboard)of the client device 705.

In response to the user selecting a resource, the remote access client706 issues a request to a resource access server 720 which can besubstantially similar to the resource access manager 615 of FIG. 6 . Therequest can include the user's authentication credentials (e.g., username and password), a resource identifier of the resource, and a sessionidentifier of the computing session for the requested resource. Theresource access server 720 can authenticate the user's access to theresource by sending the authentication credentials and the resourceidentifier to an authentication server 710 which can be substantiallysimilar to the authentication server 618 of FIG. 6 . The authenticationserver 710 can verify the user's authentication credentials and performa look-up of, e.g., a look-up table or a database that identifies one ormore resources that the user is authorized to access. In response tofinding a match between the requesting user and the selected resource inthe look-up table, the authentication server 710 can provide theresource access server 720 with an authentication token that enables theuser to access the resource.

In response to receiving the request for the first resource, theresource access server 720 can determine that the user may requireaccess to one or more second resources using one or more of thetechniques described with respect to FIG. 6 . The resource access server720 obtains an authentication token from the authentication server 710for the second resource. The resource access server 720 provides theauthentication token and the session identifier for the first resourceto a second resource server 715 configured to manage access to thesecond resource. The second resource server 715 provides the resourceaccess server 720 with a token for the second resource. Using theauthentication token for the requested resource and the second resourcetoken, the resource access server 720 generates a session transfer key.

The remote resource server 725 receives the session transfer key fromthe resource access server 720 and maps the session transfer key to thesession identifier of the computing session between the client device705 and the VM 735. For example, the remote resource server can generatea table that can include at least two columns and a plurality of rows. Afirst column can include session identifiers, and a second column caninclude corresponding session transfer keys. Thus, a session identifierin a first row, first column corresponds to a session transfer key inthe first row, first column. A VM controller 730 stores the map of thesession transfer key and the session identifier for access by the VM 735as discussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 7B. In embodiments,the VM controller 730 may be a component of the VM 735, and configuredfor facilitating communication with the resource access server 720.

Regarding FIG. 7B, the client device 705 initiates a computing session740 with the VM 735 by selecting the first resource on a UI presented tothe user by the remote access client 706. In response to the initiationof the computing session 740, the VM 735 establishes another computingsession with the second resource server 710 for the second resource. Inan embodiment, the VM 735 includes a resources plug-in 745 configured toissue a request to the VM controller 730 for the session transfer key.For example, the request can include the session identifier and afile-path of a memory location in which session transfer keys are storedby the VM controller 730. In response, the VM controller 730 performs alook-up of a map of session identifiers and session transfer keys toretrieve the appropriate session transfer key. Using the sessiontransfer key, the VM 735 establishes the second computing session withthe second resource server 715 for the second resource without requiringuser input as described in FIG. 8 .

Regarding FIG. 8 , a method 800, at 805, includes receiving, by a server(e.g., resource access manager 615 or resource access server 720 ofFIGS. 6 & 7A-B, respectively), a request from a client device (e.g.,client devices 605, 705 of FIGS. 6 & 7A-B, respectively) to establish afirst computing session for a first resource (e.g., first resource 625of FIG. 6 ). In embodiments, the first computing session hosts the firstresource on at least one VM (e.g., the VM 735 of FIGS. 7A-B). The firstresource can be associated with a user of the client device and providedby a first resource provider. For example, the first resource is onethat the user is authorized to access and/or has requested to access.

At 810, the method 800 also includes generating, by the server, asession transfer key for accessing a second resource provided by asecond resource provider (e.g., the second resource 626 and the secondresource provider 604 of FIG. 6 ). Generating the session transfer keycan include determining, by the server, that a user of the client devicemay require access to the second resource as described in greater detailwith respect to FIGS. 6 & 7A. Further, the method 800, at 815, includesissuing, by the server, instructions to the client device forestablishing the second computing session to the second resource withoutrequiring manual input for the second resource from the user of theclient device. In embodiments, the instructions include a mapping of thesession transfer key and the session identifier. In some embodiments,the server can be a single server that include the functionalitiesservers 620, 625 of FIG. 6 .

Additionally, the method 800, at 820, includes providing, by the server,the instructions to the client device for establishing the secondcomputing session to access the second resource without requiring input(e.g., a user selection gesture, such as a tap, swipe, pinch, or flickgesture, performed on a graphical user interface of the client device)from the user of the client device. In embodiments, establishment of thesecond computing session can be based on the mapping of the sessiontransfer key to the session identifier. The second computing session canbe between the at least one VM and the second resource provider for thesecond resource. Further, the second computing session can be a windowsor web session within a browser of the client device and establishedusing the mapping of the session transfer key to the session identifier.

Regarding FIG. 9 , a method 900, at 905, includes obtaining, by a server(e.g., resource access manager 615 or resource access server 720 ofFIGS. 6 & 7A-B, respectively), an authentication token from anauthentication server (e.g., servers 618, 710 of FIGS. 6 & 7A,respectively). The authentication token can be configured toauthenticate a user's access to the second resource. In embodiments,obtaining the authentication token includes determining, by the server,the second resource for the client device. Determining the secondresource for the client device can include querying, by the server, anauthentication server for resources the user of the client device isauthorized to access.

The method 900, at 910, also includes retrieving, by the server,configuration data from a second resource provider (e.g., the secondresource provider 604 of FIG. 6 ). The configuration data can includeinformation for establishing the second computing session with thesecond resource provider. For example, the configuration data caninclude information, such as URLs, IP addresses, hostnames, connectionstrings, account IDs, and/or timestamps, to provide a few examples, forinterfacing with the second resource provider.

At 915, the method 900 includes encapsulating, by the server, theauthentication token and the configuration data in the session transferkey. In an example use case, the configuration data may includeinformation the application on the remote server needs to connect andauthenticate.

Regarding FIG. 10 , an example process flow 1000 for establishing asecond computing session from a first computing session without userinput begins with a user of a client device 1005 (e.g., such as clientdevices 605, 705 of FIGS. 6 & 7A-B, respectively) issuing a request 1006for a first resource such as a software application (e.g., AutoCad orMicrosoft Word) to a resource access server 1010. The resource accessserver 1010 can determine that the user may require access to one ormore second resources using one or more of the techniques describedabove in conjunction with FIG. 6 , for example. In an embodiment, theresource access server 1010 can determine user intent to edit orotherwise seek access to a file (e.g., a second resource) stored by aremote storage provider such as ShareFile® (e.g., second resourceprovider 1020). Once the determination is made, the resource accessserver 1010 requests and obtains 1007, 1008 an authentication token froman authentication server 1015.

Using the authentication token, the resource access server 1010generates a session transfer key 1016 (e.g., a “ShareFileSSOHandle”).For example, the resource access server 1010 provides the authenticationtoken to the second resource provider 1020. The second resource provider1020 stores the authentication token and provides a session transfer key1017 to the resource access server 1010. The session transfer key can bea cryptographically-secure random number that is used as a key toretrieve data (e.g., the authentication token) stored by the secondresource provider 1020. The resource access server 1010 provides thesession transfer key to a remote resource server 1025 (e.g., such asservers 615, 720 of FIGS. 6 & 7A) along with a request 1026 for thefirst resource. The remote resource server 1025 assigns a sessionidentifier (ID) to a computing session for the first server and providesthe session transfer key and the session ID 1029 to a VM controller 1030(e.g., such as VM controller 730 of FIGS. 7A-B). The VM controller 1030maps the session ID to the session transfer key and stores the map andthe session transfer key 1031 in memory.

Subsequently, the remote resource server 1025 sends a launch ticket 1032that includes information for accessing the first and second resources(e.g., resource identifiers and a file-path of the document file storedby ShareFile) to the resource access server 1010. Using the launchticket, the resource access server 1010 generates a file such as aconnection description file that includes instructions for establishingthe computing session for the first resource and the information foraccessing the second resource and provides the file 1033 to the clientdevice 1005. In embodiments, the file can be an independent computerarchitecture (ICA) file including such instructions for establishing thecomputing session according to Citrix's ICA protocol as discussed abovein FIG. 2 .

In response to receiving the file, the client device 1005 establishesthe computing session 1034 with the VM 1035 for the first resource (e.g.the client device may utilize information from an ICA file and launchticket in establishing the computing session).

The VM 1035 includes a resources plug-in 1040 that is configured tocommunicate with the second resource provider 1020. In response toreceiving the information for accessing the second resource, theresources plug-in 1040 issues a request 1041 for the session transferkey from the VM controller 1030. The VM controller 1030 extracts thesession ID from the request, validates 1041 a that it is for the samesession and, using the previously stored map, sends 1042 the sessiontransfer key to the resources plug-in 1040. The VM 1035 via the plug-in1040 issues a request 1043 to the second resource provider 1020 toestablish a session for the second resource. The request 1043 includesthe session transfer key and a resource identifier corresponding to thesecond resource being requested by the VM 1035.

In response to receiving the session transfer key from the plug-in 1040,the second resource provider 1020 maps the resource to the token 1044 aand validates 1044 b the VM's 1035 access to the second resource. Inembodiments, the second resource provider 1020 converts a first tokenthat is trusted by it from the authentication server to a second tokenthat the resource plug-in can use to access resources that haveestablished trust using tokens of the same type as the second token.

Once the VM's 1035 access is validated, the second resource provider1020 issues a request 1046 for the second resource to a second resourceserver 1045 on which the second resource resides. In embodiments,request 1046 is authorized through trusted client credentials. Thus, theissued request 1046 can include authentication credentials for thesecond resource, which the second resource server 1045 processes 1047e.g. to validate the authentication credentials for the second resource.In process 1047 the second resource server 1045 may, for example, mapthe user, perform the validation and create an authorization token forthe second resource. The second resource server 1045 issues a token 1048to the second resource provider 1020, which passes the token 1049 it tothe VM 1035 via the plug-in 1040. In embodiments, the VM 1035, using thetoken, can send read, write, and edit operations to the second resourceserver 1045 to update the file stored by the second resource server 1045based on the user's interaction with the first resource being hosted bythe VM 1035.

The above-described systems and methods can be implemented in digitalelectronic circuitry, in computer hardware, firmware, and/or software.The implementation can be as a computer program product. Theimplementation can, for example, be in a machine-readable storagedevice, for execution by, or to control the operation of, dataprocessing apparatus. The implementation can, for example, be aprogrammable processor, a computer, and/or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled and/or interpreted languages, and the computerprogram can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone programor as a subroutine, element, and/or other unit suitable for use in acomputing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executedon one computer or on multiple computers at one site.

Method steps can be performed by one or more programmable processorsexecuting a computer program to perform functions of the embodimentsdescribed herein by operating on input data and generating output.Method steps can also be performed by and an apparatus can beimplemented as special purpose logic circuitry. The circuitry can, forexample, be a FPGA (field programmable gate array) and/or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit). Subroutines and softwareagents can refer to portions of the computer program, the processor, thespecial circuitry, software, and/or hardware that implement thatfunctionality.

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor receives instructions and data from a read-only memory or arandom-access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are aprocessor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices forstoring instructions and data. Generally, a computer can include, can beoperatively coupled to receive data from and/or transfer data to one ormore mass storage devices for storing data (e.g., magnetic,magneto-optical disks, or optical disks).

Data transmission and instructions can also occur over a communicationsnetwork. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices. Theinformation carriers can, for example, be EPROM, EEPROM, flash memorydevices, magnetic disks, internal hard disks, removable disks,magneto-optical disks, CD-ROM, and/or DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory can be supplemented by, and/or incorporated in specialpurpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the above described techniquescan be implemented on a computer having a display device. The displaydevice can, for example, be a cathode ray tube (CRT) and/or a liquidcrystal display (LCD) monitor. The interaction with a user can, forexample, be a display of information to the user and a keyboard and apointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user canprovide input to the computer (e.g., interact with a user interfaceelement). Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interactionwith a user. Other devices can, for example, be feedback provided to theuser in any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditoryfeedback, or tactile feedback). Input from the user can, for example, bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, and/or tactile input.

The above described techniques can be implemented in a distributedcomputing system that includes a back-end component. The back-endcomponent can, for example, be a data server, a middleware component,and/or an application server. The above described techniques can beimplemented in a distributing computing system that includes a front-endcomponent. The front-end component can, for example, be a clientcomputer having a graphical user interface, a Web browser through whicha user can interact with an example implementation, and/or othergraphical user interfaces for a transmitting device. The components ofthe system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communicationnetworks include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN),the Internet, wired networks, and/or wireless networks.

The system can include clients and servers. A client and a server aregenerally remote from each other and typically interact through acommunication network. The relationship of client and server arises byvirtue of computer programs running on the respective computers andhaving a client-server relationship to each other.

Packet-based networks can include, for example, the Internet, a carrierinternet protocol (IP) network (e.g., local area network (LAN), widearea network (WAN), campus area network (CAN), metropolitan area network(MAN), home area network (HAN)), a private IP network, an IP privatebranch exchange (IPBX), a wireless network (e.g., radio access network(RAN), 802.11 network, 802.16 network, general packet radio service(GPRS) network, HiperLAN), and/or other packet-based networks.Circuit-based networks can include, for example, the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), a private branch exchange (PBX), a wirelessnetwork (e.g., RAN, Bluetooth, code-division multiple access (CDMA)network, time division multiple access (TDMA) network, global system formobile communications (GSM) network), and/or other circuit-basednetworks.

The transmitting device can include, for example, a computer, a computerwith a browser device, a telephone, an IP phone, a mobile device (e.g.,cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) device, laptopcomputer, electronic mail device), and/or other communication devices.The browser device includes, for example, a computer (e.g., desktopcomputer, laptop computer) with a world wide web browser (e.g.,Microsoft® Internet Explorer® available from Microsoft Corporation,Mozilla® Firefox available from Mozilla Corporation). The mobilecomputing device includes, for example, a Blackberry®.

Comprise, include, and/or plural forms of each are open ended andinclude the listed parts and can include additional parts that are notlisted. And/or is open ended and includes one or more of the listedparts and combinations of the listed parts.

One skilled in the art will realize the concepts described may beembodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. The foregoing embodiments aretherefore to be considered in all respects illustrative rather thanlimiting of the concepts described herein. Scope of the concepts is thusindicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes that come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method performed by one or more processors, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a request from a client device to establish a computing session for a first resource; generating a session key for accessing a second resource provided by a resource provider different than that of one for the first resource; issuing instruction to a host of the first resource, the instruction including a mapping of the session key to a session identifier and to establish another computing session to host the second resource; and providing the instruction to the client device to establish the another computing session for the second resource based on the mapping of the session key to the session identifier; wherein generating the session key includes obtaining an authentication token from an authentication server, wherein the authentication token authenticates access of a user of the client device to the second resource.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the session key is a cryptographically-secure random number.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising encapsulating the authentication token in the session key.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the session key includes retrieving configuration data from the resource provider different than that of one for the first resource, wherein the configuration data includes information for establishing the another computing session.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising encapsulating the configuration data in the session key.
 6. A system comprising: a memory; and one or more processors in communication with the memory and configured to: receive a request from a client device to establish a computing session for a first resource; generate a session key for accessing a second resource provided by a resource provider different than that of one for the first resource; issue instruction to a host of the first resource, the instruction including a mapping of the session key to a session identifier and to establish another computing session to host the second resource; and provide the instruction to the client device to establish the another computing session for the second resource based on the mapping of the session key to the session identifier; wherein to generate the session key includes to obtain an authentication token from an authentication server, wherein the authentication token authenticates access of a user of the client device to the second resource.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encapsulate the authentication token in the session key.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein to generate the session key includes to retrieve configuration data from the resource provider different than that of one for the first resource, wherein the configuration data includes information for establishing the another computing session.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encapsulate the configuration data in the session key.
 10. A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a request from a client device for a first resource; receiving, by the computing device, a session key from a resource provider different than that of one for the first resource, the session key enables access to a second resource provided by the resource provider; obtaining, by the computing device and with use of the session key, a launch ticket, wherein the launch ticket enables access to the first and second resources; generating, by the computing device and with use of the launch ticket, instruction to establish a session for the first resource and including information to access the second resource; and providing, by the computing device, the instruction to the client device.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the launch ticket is obtained from a remote resource server.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the remote resource server assigns a session identifier to a session for the first resource.
 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising, responsive to receiving the request from the client device for the first resource, determining user intent to access the first resource.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the session key is received in response to providing an authentication token to the resource provider different than that of one for the first resource, the authentication token authenticates access of a user of the client device to the second resource.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the session key is a cryptographically-secure random number.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the instruction is included in an independent computer architecture (ICA) file.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the session for the first resource is provided by a virtual machine (VM).
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein the instruction includes a mapping of the session key to a session identifier. 